Reflections of Art Education from the 1980s to Now - Research Paper Example

The Getty Education Institute for the Arts played a major role in the reform of art education.  This group wanted to see students create art as well as understand it and have the opportunity to do so inside the classroom.  Their whole basis to teach art was constructed using four different areas that are art aesthetics, art history, art criticism, and art history (Wilson, 13).  This group concluded that art education could help all students become academically inclined with exposure to art through the use of creativity and analysis of art.  The group designed a course framework for teachers to utilize this discipline-based method to bring art education into the classroom. 

The goal as an educator is to enrich the minds of students in hopes that they will maintain a lifelong interest particularly, in this case, art education.  In order to do so, the California Department of Education and the California State Board of Education have laid out a groundwork of ideas to help encourage and nurture students' creativity through art education in public school systems.  Their goal is to use dance, music, theater, and visual arts to create an arts program that encourages the following: “artistic perception; creative expression; historical and cultural context; aesthetic valuing; and connections, relationships, and applications.”  In fact, when the Arts Education Partnership completed a study in 1999 study, the group discovered that students with more involvement in any type of art usually had higher test scores, were less likely to drop out of school by their sophomore year, and seemed more interested in school (Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, v).

According to the curriculum framework for California public schools, all students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade must have class studies that focus on art education (Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, 2).  Electronic technology and new media are also forms of artistic value that also must be addressed in art education.  Students are also encouraged to work at their own pace in order to create and this curriculum includes students with special needs.  Experts think that this will help lead to self-expression and even increase self-confidence.  The requirements of this curriculum also state that students need to be exposed to different cultures, ethnicities, races, religions of not just America but also across the globe through art (Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission, 4).

When looking at recent arts education, the Foundation Funding for Arts Education recognizes that all forms of art are central to civilization.  It is also a means of expression, preserving culture, passing that knowledge of culture through generations, and the ability to portray a person's thoughts and emotions.  The foundation has also discovered that through research, there is a strong need for arts education to be able for a student to think more intellectually and can even improve a student's overall scholastic achievements.  According to more research conducted by the Foundation uncovered that there is more money donated to arts education than to art overall, particularly from the years 1999 to 2003  (Lenz and Atienza, 1). 

The various areas that the Foundation Funding for Arts Education does not just focus on paintings and sculptures.  Other types of art fall within “art education” such as performing arts, multidisciplinary arts, visual arts, museum arts education, and literary arts (Lenz and Atienza, 7-10).  This broadens the perspective of arts education quite differently than just one focus.  Today art education is still a focus in the center of the American core curriculum in public schools so that students cannot just create art but also learn and respect different cultures and how each part of the globe and each artist has a varying style and sense of artistic creativity.

There have been some cutbacks by school districts as a result of the economic slump.  Some schools are being forced to eliminate some of their programs and art classes are in no way safe from being downsized.  However, sometimes it is up to the art teachers to remain advocates for art education in the school.  In some ways, they can even implement new perspectives to help freshen up the program within their own classrooms.  SchoolArts magazine often offers advice on advocacy for art education, offering support for educators.  Art is considered a life skill.  It takes an idea and turns it into a reality.  It is implemented in numerous ways other than sculpture, dance, or playing the piano.  Everything that has ever been created has come from the hands of an artist.  Scientists, architects, engineers, and several other occupations are still people that are considered to be artists, and keeping resources in front of students will forever encourage them (Hughes, 12).